Würzburg

We are delighted to have Brose in our region

On the initiative of the leader of the regional government, Dr. Paul Beinhofer, the governing body of the University of Würzburg paid a visit to the drives plant of automotive supplier Brose. With nearly 2,000 employees, Brose is the largest industrial employer in Würzburg. In photo (center): Jürgen Otto, CEO of the Brose Group, Dr. Alfred Forchel, President of the University of Würzburg (5th from left), regional government leader Dr. Paul Beinhofer (6th from left), Executive Vice President Reinhard Kretschmer (3rd from right) and Brose General Manager Jörg Rödel.

Würzburg, 2011-04-11

The governing body of Würzburg University visited the Brose site in Würzburg on October 27th on the initiative of Dr. Paul Beinhofer, leader of the regional government of Lower Franconia. The visitors met Jürgen Otto, CEO of the Brose Group, Reinhard Kretschmer, Executive Vice President Drives, and General Manager Jörg Rödel.

Dr. Beinhofer explained the background to the industry visit: “My aim is to get industry and universities to talk to one another. As the largest industrial enterprise in Würzburg, you already have close contact with the university through Jürgen Otto, who is a member of the university’s governing body”. Dr. Beinhofer organizes an industry visit every year and traditionally invites the governing body of the University of Würzburg to visit a local company.

Jürgen Otto emphasized the importance of the company’s collaboration with science and teaching. In his opinion, Würzburg’s university and university of applied sciences give it a clear advantage as a location: “For this reason, Würzburg will continue to play an important role in the future development of the Brose Group,” he continued.

The site visit was followed by an intensive discussion that focused on electromobility. Jürgen Otto presented the activities of the Brose-SEW joint venture in the area of electromobility and emphasized the fact that the electric motors produced in Würzburg were helping to meet the demand for increased energy efficiency in cars. In addition, electric vehicles would lead to other attractive potential applications for electric motors made in Würzburg because both electric and hybrid vehicles call for electric auxiliary units.

In connection with the rare-earth issue, regional government leader Dr. Beinhofer mentioned the project group on material cycles and material substitution, which was set up at the Fraunhofer Institute in Alzenau in 2011. The group’s aim is to improve the recycling of materials and to find substitute materials for rare-earth magnets.

In closing, Prof. Alfred Forchel, President of Würzburg University, promised to “forge even closer connections between our high-performance university and high-performance companies like Brose”. He agreed to take up Jürgen Otto’s suggestion of offering a university qualification in the area of procurement/purchasing.

In summary, Dr. Beinhofer said, “Industry is extremely important for the development of our region. So we are delighted to have an employer as big and powerful as Brose in the region.”